Pyrofhoric lighter
a. kariri



Dec. 21, 1965 A. KARlRl 3,224,233

PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Filed May 14, 1964 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENTOR.

Dec. 21, 1965 A. KARIRI 3,224,233

PYRoPHoRIc LIGHTER Filed May 14, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. I

CLAW M GZMN 699.5% M

United States Patent 3,224,233 PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Aviv Kariri, 9 BenYehuda St., Haifa, Israel Filed May 14, 1964, Ser. No. 367,423 Claims.(Cl. 674.1)

This invention concerns pyrophoric lighters of the kind wherein a sparkis created by the turning of a friction wheel along a flint mounted injuxtaposition, the spark being caught by a wick soaked with fuel or agas nozzle mounted in the vicinity.

These lighters are generally in the shape of pocketor table-lighters,the spark producing arrangement being made into a unit with the wick ortorch, i.e the wheel and flint being mounted on the housing containingthe fuel for the wick or nozzle which protrudes from said housing.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a lighter whereinthe wick or the gas nozzle with the corresponding fuel supply, afterhaving been lit, can be separated from the spark-producing arrangement.

For the sake of convenience, the term wick as used hereinafter in thedescription and claims includes also a gas nozzle or any similar device.which is in communication with a fuel supply and when lit will burn aslong as said fuel supply lasts.

The invention consists in a lighter of the kind aforesaid, wherein thespark-producing arrangement is fixedly mounted on a carriage, while thewick and its fuel housing are removably mounted thereon, the carriagebeing adapted to be pulled by the wick and its housing whereby the sparkis produced and the wick is lit.

According to the invention the carriage is provided with a tensionspring acting against the pulling action of. the wick and its housing.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a locking lever isprovided on the carriage and is adapted to lock the carriage after itsforward movement, and simultaneously to release the wick and housing fordisconnec: tion from the carriage.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example only, in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of the lighter in lockedposition.

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the same in released position.

7 FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section of a secondembodiment of a lighter in locked position.

FIG. 4is a similar view of the same in released position.

The lighter according to the invention comprises a downwardly flangedbase 1 in which two parallel rows of two spaced slots 2 are disposed.Slots 2 serve as guides for downwardly extending lugs 3 which areattached to the side flanges of an inverted channel shaped carriage 4adapted for reciprocal movement on top of base 1, a spring 4 mountedwith one end to a lug 1' fixed to base 1 and with the other to carriage4, urging the carriage into the position of FIG. 1. A friction wheel,ratchet and pawl such as known per se with lighters, to impartunidirectional rotational movement to the friction wheel indicatedgenerally at 5, is journalled between the flanges of carriage 4, a slot6 being provided in the carriage for the wheel and ratchet to extendpartially therethrough. The ratchet is adapted to be turned by a pawl 7pivotal on the. one hand on the shaft of wheel and ratchet 5 and on theother on an arm 8 which is linked to a fixed mounting on the base 1. Itcan be seen that with each movement of the carriage from the positionshown in FIG. 1 to that in FIG. 2 the pawl 7 is turned which turns wheelnnidirectionally and ratchet 5. A tube 9 housing flint stone 10 underspring pressure, as known per se, is mounted in carriage 4, in such amanner that the flint stone 3,224,233 Pa nt d e?! 2 10 is injuxtaposition to wheel 5. A hollow torch 11 from one end of whichextends a wick 12 and the other end of which is closed by a screwcap 13is filled with fuel and is removably supported in horizontal positionbetweenv a raised portion 4a of carriage 4 and guides 14 fixed to thecarriage. A locking member 15 for the purpose of locking the movement ofcarriage 4 and the removal of torch 11 is in the form of an angularlever, having a substantially horizontally disposed leg 15a at whosefree end a pushbutton 16 is disposed and merging with the leg 15a asubstantially vertically disposed leg 15b, which is provided at its freeend with a lug 17, adapted to engage, when the carriage 4 is in theunlocked position (FIG. 2) in a depression In of base 1. A lug 18extending from leg 15a is adapted to engage, when the torch is in thelocked position (FIG. 1) in a peripheral groove 11 of torch 1 1. Thelever 15 is' pivoted at 19 at approximately the center of leg 15b to anextension (not shown) of carriage 4, a spring 20 being fixed between thecarriage and the leg 15!) and urges the lever into the position wherelug 17 engages depression 1a, The care riage is covered. by a cover (notshown) mounted to the base and enclosing the entire device, suitableopenings being provided in the cover for the torch and the lever Thelighter illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 works as follows: Starting from theposition shown in FIG. 1, when it is desired to light torch 11, thetorch 11 is pulled in the direction of arrow A, This pnlls the carriage4' along, causing friction wheel and. ratchet 5 to turn against flint10, whereby wick 12 is lit. Simultaneously, lug 17 reaches depression 1aand is urged into it by spring 20, while this movement of lever 15causes lug 18 to be raised and thereby disengage groove 11a. Thus theburning torch 11 is free to be removed and to be used to light anydesired flame or may be used by itself for illumination purposes. Thisposition is shown in FIG. 2. When push button 16 is depressed, spring 4'returns carriage 4 from the position of FIG. 2 into that of FIG. 1. Whenthe torch has been used and while it may still be burning, it isinserted between guides 14 and portion 4. The leg 15a of lever 15 movesslightly upwards to permit lug 18 to engage groove 11a. Wick 12 abutsagainst the flat surface of an extinguisher 21 mounted on carriage 4,whereby the flame of torch 11 is extinguished. It is, of course,possible to extinguish the flame before torch 11 is replaced, wherebyextinguisher 21 can be eliminated.

In the embodiment of the lighter illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, partswhich are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been referenced withthe same numerals and do not require separate description. Thus,carriage 4 is movable on base 1 against the action of spring 4 and isguided in this movement by lugs 3 extending through slots 2. Thefriction wheel and ratchet 5, journalled between the flanges of carriage4 extends partially through slot 6 in the carriage. A longitudinal slot22 is provided in 'base 1 in vertical alignment with ratchet 5 for theserrated edge of a rack 23 to extend therethrough from below, the rackbeing journalled at one end on a pin 24 fixed between the flanges of thebase 1 and on the other end being held by a spring 25 attached to lug 1'whereby the friction wheel is unidirectionally turned as the torchmember 11 is moved outwardly. During the lift return movement ofcarriage 4, the mating teeth of the ratchet 10 and the rack 23 slip andthereby the friction wheel remains stationary. A locking arm 26 isarticulated with one end to a post 27 projecting upwardly from thecarriage 4, the arm being provided at its free end with an integraltransverse head 26a projecting from either side of the arm. The head 26ais adapted to engage a collar 11b on the torch 11 in the locked positionof the lighter (FIG. 3), and in the unlocked position of the same (FIG.4),

3 the head is engaged by an abutment 28 fixed to an upright post 29mounted on base 1. A leaf-spring 30 fixed to arm 26 with one end andwith the other end abutting guides 14 urges the arm 26 and head 26a intothe unlocked position, i.e. towards abutment 28.

The lighter illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 works as follows: Starting fromthe locked position, shown in FIG. 3, in which head 26a engages collar11b of torch 11 and thus prevents the latter from being removed, i.e. itis locked, the torch is pulled in the direction of the arrow A. Carriage4 is thereby pulled along and during this movement the ratchet is turnedby rack 23, so that friction wheel 5 turns against flint causing a sparkto light wick 12. Simultaneously, the head 26a of arm 26 slides alongabutment 28 until it reaches the end of said abutment, whereby, owing tothe force of spring 30, arm 26 is raised. This releases head 26a fromengagement with collar 11b, so that the torch 11 which is now lit, canbe withdrawn from carriage 4 (FIG. 4). When the torch 11 is reinsertedinto carriage 4 and head 26a is released from abutment 28, spring 4' isfree again to return carriage 4 into its starting position, i.e. that inwhich head 26a engages collar 11b.

The lighter may be used wherever desired. Base 1 may, for example, bemounted on a wall near the stove in a kitchen, or on a workbench in awelding shop. Instead of liquid fuel, such as benzine, being containedin the torch, a valve-controlled gas container can be inserted in thetorch housing, the valve being opened automatically whenever the torchis pulled with the carriage in the direction of arrow A.

I claim:

1. A pyrophoric lighter which comprises a base member, a carriage memberslidable mounted on said base member between a first and a secondposition, a friction wheel rotatably mounted on said carriage, a sparkproducing stone, means mounting said stone on said carriage in contactwith said friction wheel, a tension spring connected between saidcarriage and said base to bias said carriage towards said firstposition, means coacting between said friction wheel and said basemember to turn said friction wheel when said carriage is moved from saidfirst position to said second position while said spring is tensioned, aremovable separate torch member having a flammable end, means slidablymounting said torch member on said carriage member, means latchablelocking said torch member to said carriage member with its flammable endnear said spark producing stone and means releasing said latchablelocking means when said carriage member reaches said second position assaid torch member is pulled against the action of said tension spring.

2. A pyrophoric lighter according to claim 1 wherein said torch memberhas a peripheral groove and said latchable torch member locking meansincludes a locking member pivotably secured to said carriage member, oneend of said pivoting member being slidable along the said base member,the other end of said pivoting member having a latching portion which isengageable with said peripheral groove in said torch member to latchablylock the flammable end of said torch near said friction wheel, a secondspring between said locking member and said carriage member for urgingthe slidable end of said pivoting member along said base member, acavity in said base member along the path of said slidable end of saidpivoting locking member whereby said latching portion of said pivotingmember is lifted out of said peripheral groove in said torch member bysaid second spring when said slidable end of said pivoting lockingmember drops into said cavity in the base member.

3. A pyrophoric lighter according to claim 1 wherein said torch memberhas a protrusion thereon and said torch member latchable locking meansincludes a locking member pivotably secured to said carriage member andhaving an outstanding portion to latchably lock said flammable end ofthe torch member near said friction wheel, a post member fixed to saidbase member having a slide portion thereon, a second spring connectedbetween said locking member and said carriage member and means pivotablysecuring said locking member to said carriage member so that saidoutstanding portion slides along the slide portion of said post memberunder the influence of said second spring until said carriage reachessaid second position whereupon the outstanding portion of said pivotinglocking member is moved by said second spring to release said protrusionto permit withdrawal of the torch member.

4. A pyrophoric lighter according to claim 2 wherein said locking memberhas an extension whereby finger pressure upon said extension lifts saidslidable end of said locking member out of the cavity in said basemember so that said carriage can return to said first fixed positionunder the influence of said tension spring.

5. A pyrophoric lighter according to claim 3 wherein the saidoutstanding portion of said pivoting locking member is finger resettablein sliding contact with said slide portion of said post member when theflammable end of said torch member is positioned near said frictionwheel so that said carriage can return to said first fixed positionunder the influence of said tension spring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 992,766 5/ 1911Gergacsevices 664.l 2,265,761 12/1941 Ludonici 674.1 2,979,930 4/1961Ichikawa 677.1

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, IR., Primary Examiner.

LLOYD L. KING, Examiner.

1. A PYROPHORIC LIGHTER WHICH COMPRISES A BASE MEMBER, A CARRIAGE MEMBERSLIDAGLE MOUNTED ON SAID BASE MEMBER BETWEEN A FIRST AND A SECONDPOSITION, A FRICTION WHEE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE, A SPARKPRODUCING STONE, MEANS MOUNTING SAID STONE ON SAID CARRIAGE IN CONTACTWITH SAID FRICTION WHEEL, A TENSION SPRING CONNECTED BETWEEN SAIDCARRIAGE AND SAID BASE TO BIAS SAID CARRIAGE TOWARDS SAID FIRSTPOSITION, MEANS COACTING BETWEEN SAID FRICTION WHEEL AND SAID BASEMEMBER TO TURN SAID FRICTION WHEEL WHEN SAID CARRIAGE IS MOVED FROM SAIDFIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION WHILE SAID SPRING IS TENSIONED, AREMOVABLE SEPARATE TORCH MEMBER HAVING A FLAMMABLE END, MEANS SLIDABLYMOUNTING SAID TORCH MEMBER ON SAID CARRIAGE MEMBER, MEANS LATCHABLELOCKING SAID TOURCH MEMBER TO SAID CARRIAGE MEMBER WITH ITS FLAMMABLEEND NEAR SAID SPARK PRODUCING STONE AND MEANS RELEASING SAID LATCHABLELOCKING MEANS WHEN SAID CARRIAGE MEMBER REACHES SAID SECOND POSITION ASSAID TORCH MEMBER IS PULLED AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID TENSION SPRING.